Trump ditches defense of Obamacare mandate

"But what I'm talking about is very simple. There's no mandatory anything. We're going to end Obamacare and it's going to be repealed." (AP File Photo/David Goldman)

Donald Trump said Sunday he actually opposes Obamacare's individual mandate, following up his reversal last week of his apparent support for the law.

The GOP presidential frontrunner told CNN's Anderson Cooper Thursday that he "likes" the healthcare law's requirement to have health coverage. He tweeted the following day that he would actually repeal it, along with the rest of President Obama's healthcare law.

On CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday Trump said he doesn't like the mandate at all.

"We were talking over each other," Trump said of his conversation with Cooper. "But what I'm talking about is very simple. There's no mandatory anything. We're going to end Obamacare and it's going to be repealed."

Trump has been recently criticized by his opponent, Sen. Ted Cruz, who notes that Trump has praised single-payer systems in the past, such as the one offered in Canada. It's politically difficult for any Republican seeking elected office to be viewed as anything other than completely opposed to the Affordable Care Act, one of Obama's chief domestic legacies.

Trump hasn't detailed what he would replace the healthcare law with, although he didn't mention expanding the use of tax-free health savings accounts. "We're going to have great healthcare," he said.

Trump also repeated a line he's been using a lot recently. If he is elected, people won't be "dying on the streets," Trump said.

"People are not going to die on the streets of any city if I'm president," he said. "Every time I say that, I get standing ovations."